


The Stars Above Us

by dreamyafterdark, Micawber



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Astronomer!Hux, Astronomy, Inappropriate Use of the Force, Kylux - Freeform, Kylux Big Bang, Kylux Big Bang 2019, M/M, Multiverse, Real World Problems, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-14 17:54:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20604896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamyafterdark/pseuds/dreamyafterdark, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Micawber/pseuds/Micawber
Summary: Right after the battle in Starkiller forest, Kylo Ren is mysteriously ported from his universe to appear on Earth, in Hux's university campus park. Hux, an astronomy professor, is out jogging, when he suddenly spots someone in black robes, lying injured in the snow... Kylo think he recognises him, but Hux can't quite work out where he's seen this man before, and trying to help him turns out to be both more complex, and much more rewarding than he could have imagined...Written for Kylux Mini Bang 2019. Art and original prompt by Micawber.





	The Stars Above Us

**Author's Note:**

> The original prompt for this fic as well as the gorgeous art were created by the amazing illustrator and cosplayer Micawber, who you can find here on AO3 (linked as co-creator), as well as [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mi_caw_ber) and [Tumblr](https://mi-caw-ber.tumblr.com/)

Rain, softly falling, turning into snowflakes. Like an impromptu art installation, they danced under the glowing, orange lights illuminating the paths of the vast Campus park.  
9 pm, Tuesday night. February.

Yeah, the place was empty. The athletes already in bed, the party-goers on the other side of the hill, propping up numbers in the Student Union, or the all-night café, or the few, student-friendly bars downtown. At other times, this place was filled with people, reading, chilling, playing sports. Events held here could attract many hundreds. The Summer festival with its three stages. Shakespeare week in autumn. The Easter run.

But on a night like this, the park was his alone, as Hux jogged along. Almost meditative, the silence, the snow falling, and the steady rhythm of his feet. Hux wiped snowflakes off of his brow, his breath leaving his mouth like an orderly line of soft dragon-puff clouds.

As an astronomer, he might have minded the dense cloud cover a little more, since it made spotting even the moon difficult. But Hux consoled himself with the thought that the snowy ambience all around resembled travelling through Saturn’s beautiful rings… -  
Suddenly, a light ahead. Red, flashing, very intense.

Surely no one was out in this weather, playing with a laser pointer?

There it was again, yes, for sure, it was really there. A kind of longish, red glowing object that moved around jerkily, and if Hux wasn’t mistaken, made a buzzing sound… Grass smacked underneath his trainers, as he stepped off the path, and walked towards the source of the light, moving evergreens and naked tree branches out of the way, until he suddenly stood right before it.

And “it” saw him, too.  
“Hux?”  
“Huh?! Do I… know you?”

Hux stared in confusion at the man lying on the snowy ground before him, dressed in hooded black robes, black gloves and boots, an angry gash across his face, and holding down some kind of red light stick, as if it was a weapon... The stranger looked equally bewildered at him, taking in Hux’s clothes and shoes, but powered down the light stick, before trying to sit up.

“I should think so, General..”, he said, in a voice that sounded as if it would have been much angrier, if the effort of sitting up hadn’t also made him groan out in pain, and start to softly shake.  
“Easy…”, Hux said soothingly, crouching down beside him.

The man looked at him, with soulful brown eyes that momentarily took Hux’s breath away. He was stunning, really, and he looked so… lost, and also… almost familiar? Did Hux know him after all? As he studied the stranger’s features, his soft, raven-coloured hair, his eyes moved down onto the man’s shoulders and chest. Hux would have asked the man why he dressed like this, but the words got stuck in his throat. First, a slash on his arm, and then… a huge wound on his side, bleeding steadily into the snow. Sitting up seemed to have encouraged it, and the whole scene, dark red on soft white, the stranger’s fantastical black robes, it all had such a perversely beautiful aesthetic, it twisted Hux’s stomach.

“What happened to you?”, he asked softly.

His voice seemed to have a curious effect on the man, as it calmed him down, almost like a wild animal. There was still confusion in his eyes, something that didn’t quite understand, or perhaps, didn’t quite believe. But he seemed to lack the energy to ask questions, and only quietly replied.

“Crossbow. After Han. The… girl… did the rest…”

At this, he grimaced in shame, casting his long lashes down, before continuing.

“We’ve got to go…It’s all going to blow up, Hux… All of it…my fault…”

The man’s words became increasingly drawn out, his eyes began to fall shut and he started to swerve. Hux threw decorum to the wind, and wrapped his arms around him, and at this his eyes flashed open… filled with fear.

“Don’t leave me here… please, Hux… please… I know I’ve treated you… horrifically…”

His heart. Hux could feel the stranger’s heart racing, his face was flushed, and the heat emanating off of him was palpable. Delirious. Probably shock, blood loss, possibly fever, too.

“Shh, it’s alright…. I’m going to call you a doctor. It’ll all get sorted out.”, Hux cooed, trying his best to sound both calm and confident.

The fear in the man’s eyes softened, but into sadness. His gloved hand came up to gently stroke along Hux’s cheek, as an actual tear rolled down his own.

“This is a dream… I know it is, but it’s… I’m glad it’s you, Hux. I’m glad you’re the last thing I see…”

What a strange, strange… boy, almost, Hux thought. Then he felt the ravenhaired’s hand drop down, saw his eyes close, watched him slip into unconsciousness in Hux’s arms.

“Hey… Stay with me. Stay with me!”

Hux felt the man’s hand squeeze his arm one last time, and it felt so… quietly desperate. He gently lowered him into the snow, fished for his phone in his hoodie pocket, dialled the emergency services with frozen fingers… then sat, leaning over the man, trying to shield him from the snow that was starting to fall heavily now. He seemed warm, in fact it seemed to radiate a strange heat that kept Hux warm. This was odd, but also a relief. Hux didn’t want to move him in case he had further injuries, but hypothermia was a risk, too.

It had to be such a funny sight, really… Hux’s slim frame trying to shield someone so big, and strong and tall… But there was also something fragile about him, his sleeping face with the large features looking almost angelic… Hux gently stroked some snowflakes from his forehead, his wavy, dark hair, and sat, wondering how they might know each other…

Finally, the ambulance came. Parked at the bottom of the hill, three medics moved quickly towards them. Two carefully picked up the man and carried him down on a stretcher, while the third asked Hux questions. He answered as best as he could, noticing the stranger’s stick on the ground. It had to have fallen out of his hand. Hux picked it up, unsure what to do with it. He was aware he should let the stranger go, but somehow he couldn’t. He really couldn’t.

“Let me come.”  
“We only take family members along.”  
“He’s… my cousin.”  
“You said you just found him here.”  
“Yeah, well… I was in shock.”  
“And you look nothing like him…”, the medic added sharply, before adopting a softer, yet insisting tone: “Listen, we’ll take really good care of him.”  
“That’s offensive!”, Hux bristled in response. “He’s adopted, alright? Now let me in.”

The medic growled in frustration.

“I’m the only person he knows here, and he’s really sensitive.”, Hux continued. “He’ll be frightened when he wakes up, confused…”.

That last part was true at least. The rest… not even remotely believable. Hux knew it. But the medic’s frown turned from suspicion to frustration, and he abruptly turned around, and started walking. Fast.

“I don’t have time for this. Just don’t get in the way alright?”

Hux nodded, and followed along. Frankly, he was surprised at himself, but also slightly proud. He’d totally gotten away with it… And he did feel responsible for this man. And not just because he had found him. There was scientific curiosity, too... Yes, that was it, Hux couldn’t quite resist a mystery falling right into his lap. The simple explanation that the man was delusional was… well, *too simple*… -

“Suppose you can tell us his name then? And date of birth?”

The medic’s questions yanked Hux back to reality. Damn. He was about to have to seriously start making things up, when they reached the ambulance door, and the situation inside called the medic’s attention away... The stranger had woken up, and was now thrashing around wildly...

The third medic got in, Hux quickly followed, then watched all three try to hold the man down and administer a sedative – only to see one of them faint, then the next… Hux stood up, moved himself into the line of sight of big, brown eyes wild with fear and rage…

“Calm down…”, he purred in his best soothing voice, and took his hand.

He had no idea what had gotten into him, what amount of mad confidence had made him throw himself into the fray, but mad confidence paid off. Big, brown eyes found Hux’s blue-green ones, anchored themselves in their stillness, long enough to allow the last standing medic to administer the sedative. Hux felt a pang of guilt, but the man didn’t show any sign of betrayal. He held Hux’s hand as his eyes closed, and sank back down. For the rest of the ride, Hux stood holding the man’s hand, while the remaining medic re-attached a drip to him, then tended to her fallen colleagues.

By the time, they arrived, all three were up and running, the raven-haired still asleep and Hux still holding his hand. When he got admitted, Hux dropped back to avoid having to answer any questions. He hoovered around nearby as the man was undressed and examined, had his wounds cleaned and dressed…. Uncannily, despite the man being unconscious, Hux could see that his monitor showed a quickened heartbeat if Hux went more than a few feet away from his room, and others were inside with him. But once he was alone, it stayed calm, it had done so for over an hour, despite Hux going to the far end of the corridor and back. He had no idea how the man was doing that, but he was dying to go to the toilet, so eventually, he decided to chance it.

The hospital was big, and the nearest toilet was closed for maintenance. On his way back from the next closest one, Hux passed a vending machine, and bought a cup of tea and a chocolate bar. But as we walked closer to the other man’s room, he got the funniest feeling…

When Hux stepped inside, there was a nurse sleeping peacefully on the floor. And the stranger was up, looking straight into Hux’s eyes. One strained inhale and exhale later, Hux closed the door behind him, and then, perhaps it was exhaustion, perhaps it was just everything, but he positively barked out his words:

“Just what is your problem?!”

The man just raised his eyebrows, his eyes so wide and round. Hux growled in exasperation

“Don’t play innocent… what did this nurse do to you? You know we’re all just trying to help you, don’t you?”

Hux rubbed a hand across his face, lowered his voice but pressed his lips together determinately, before continuing.

“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do. Who are you? Why were you lying in the University park, and dressed like… *that*. Injured like *that* You’re not a student, are you?”

But the man just titled his head, his eyes still round, but more collected now. Mild, almost.

“You’re strange.”, he stated, in a warm, low voice. “Everyone and everything here… is strange. I thought it was a dream, but I can’t wake up, and I’m not dead either. So I reckon this is a Force simulation, which means Snoke is behind this, which means it is punishment… Which means no one and nothing here is real, and of any consequence…”

At this he moved his hand across the air, over the sleeping nurse. Hux had stood and listened, getting more and more sure that the man was insane, but now he was getting very irritated. No one was of consequence, what a pompous, narcissistic-

“Except you, Hux… Somehow, you seem real. Which means we are both being punished…”  
“This… looks like punishment to you…?”  
“Indeed. A cruel joke, even. This medical facility is ported right out of the ancient past. No droids, no bacta. These machines are slow, and noisy, and-“

At this, lightning shot out of the man’s hand straight into a cabinet, making Hux squeak and throw his hands up defensively. His tea cup slipped out of his hand, flew upwards, but then it froze, hoovering in the air, with the hot liquid hanging alongside it… Hux’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“What the actual-“  
“Forgive me…”

Hux looked down and saw the man looking really, genuinely sorry.

“Would you… mind… stepping aside…?”

Hux was dazed, and didn’t quite understand, but Kylo motioned with his other hand to the side, and then Hux realised that he must be using his other hand to… telekinetically?... hold the cup and tea in the air… and wasn’t that… lightning? That shot out from the man’s… bare… hand?

He watched the tea drop to the floor before his feet, while the cup slowly moved onto the man’s bedside table.

“Who…. WHO are you…?!!”, Hux breathed out. He wanted to say ‘What are you” but even in shock he was too polite for that.  
“I’m Ren, Hux.”, the man said softly. “Commander Kylo Ren.”  
“Commander…”, Hux sputtered out incredulously.  
“Yes, General Hux: I am Commander Ren. You could call me Lord, like the other Force users, but you find it archaic.”  
“I do…”, Hux repeated just as pointedly, before adding: “Force users?”

Really, Hux still wasn’t sure about what ‘Kylo Ren’ was babbling about, but he did seem to have some strange powers. It hurt Hux’s mind a little to contemplate such powers existing in the real world, and he found himself wondering if it wasn’t him that was dreaming… perhaps he was lying in the snow right now?

Kylo frowned, and reached out towards him.

“Come here. Let me look at you.”

Hux should have been more hesitant, but he walked up to the other man, and when gently prompted, sat down next to him on his bed.  
“You do know you sound completely insane?”, he said, much softer than he’d intended to.

Somehow being next Kylo Ren made him… softer. His hand reached out, as of its own accord, and was halfway to tracing beside the gash on Kylo’s face, when he stopped and looked deeply into his dark eyes.

“Are you doing something to me? Are you using this… Force?”

Kylo slowly blinked.

“I’m calming you down, that’s all.”

Hux wanted to be angry. He wanted to feel angry and kick Kylo Ren out of his soul, but he also… For so long, anxious, busy thoughts had run through Hux’s mind. This here… felt like bliss, frankly. It didn’t seem harmful… Not unless it was only the prelude to something-

“You can lean on my chest…”

Kylo’s voice echoed somewhat in Hux’s mind, it was like a soft, dark purr. His arm came up and Hux let him pull him against his broad chest, covered only in a thin hospital gown. Kylo’s hands stroked through his light, red hair, and Hux… sighed… This was wrong, but… it was so easy to let go of his anxieties and just go with the flow, for once in his-

Someone. There was someone in his mind. Hux’s eyes flashed and he tried to get up, but Kylo’s arm held him in place.

“Let me go. What- what are you doing?!“  
“Shh, don’t fight it. It won’t hurt, if you don’t struggle.”  
“What?!!!”, Hux yelped, and dug his nails into Kylo’s arms.

Surprised, the man let him go, and Hux jumped up and off of the bed. The calm had worn right off, it was as if Hux was pushing his head up out of water, and he was shocked. Very understandably so, and yet but Kylo only looked… irritated?!

“Are you going to make me beg? You know I can just take what I want.”

Incensed, Hux spat back: “Do you know what you sound like?!”

Kylo kept frowning, clearly not used to being questioned, and now that he was feeling less close to death, seemingly a whole lot less diplomatic. Hux huffed, and before he could stop himself, hissed:  
“You were probably right earlier. Whatever this is, it *is* all your fault.”

He had no idea where those words came from, and frankly felt bad right after he said him. They seemed to hit Kylo right in the chest. He winced, and his expression softened, became incredibly sad. Full on puppy eyes and quivering bottom lip, as the man quietly asked:  
“Please? I need to know, Hux. For both of our sake..”

Against all better judgement, Hux sat back down beside Kylo. After an awkward moment, he placed his head back onto Kylo’s chest, and waited for him to wrap his arm around him again. When it didn’t come, he even reached out his hand and tapped him, not unlike a cat.

“Just don’t… manipulate me. Tell me what you’re going to do, be… careful.”  
“Alright…”

Kylo held Hux close, and placed his hand against his temple.

“I can do this without touching you,”, he said softly.

This time, Hux wasn’t under a spell, and Kylo’s voice so close to his ear ran a shiver down his spine.

“It’s OK…”, Hux whispered.  
“It helps me to connect… physically. To take more care, when my mind enters yours… it’s grounding.”, Kylo said softly.

Something about his voice, and the way Kylo said that he would enter Hux made the gingerhaired’s chest hum. And when he told Hux to close his eyes, when he waited and let him get used to the feeling of Kylo’s hand on him, before moving it down to the side of his face. Caressing him… - That was too much, surely. Hux began to feel nervous, was this alright, wasn’t it unethical of him to feel this way about an injured, and quite possible insane, stranger? He felt an urge to get away, but it was as if Kylo anticipated it, flexing his arm to keep him close, while softly talking in his ear.

“Don’t be afraid. I feel it, too. I know you’ve always had a thing for me…”

“I’ve never… met you before…”, Hux started, but in contrast to earlier, the fact that Kylo had held him back this time had made him feel… safe.

Accepted. Understood.

He gasped. Kylo was kissing his hair.

[Relax…], he said, into Hux’s mind. The gingerhaired gasped again, a shiver running down his spine. He talked… into his mind? It was uncanny, but it also felt… good. Familiar, when it couldn’t, such things couldn’t happen, they could not feel right, but it did. It felt real.

“Are you… calming me again?”, Hux whispered.  
“No…”, Kylo breathed. “Just being… gentle”

So he was using sex to calm him down instead. Touch and Hux’s desire, but the ginger-haired accepted. It felt too damn good. And really, if Kylo was going to enter him, he should prepare him, that was only fair. Sure, it was irrational, but Hux was curious, too. And the nurse on the floor was peacefully snoring, definitely alive. Kylo clearly had skill, and limits…

Kylo let his warm, thick fingers stroke along the length of Hux’s neck, caress the front of it, as he gently, almost ethereally, entered Hux’s mind again… It felt strange, but Kylo’s touch was indeed good at distracting Hux from any discomfort. It was as if he knew exactly where his neck and head were most sensitive, and by the time his presence in Hux’s mind became clearer, it felt good…

It felt… close…  
In fact, that felt bad, that raised a surge of unpleasant feelings, and-

“You’re so lonely… you’re like me…”

Hux swallowed, his breath slightly affected. Humiliation had reared its head, but Kylo had softened it right back down with his admission.

“But you… you…. Oh, Armitage…”, Kylo said slowly, as he moved deeper into Hux’s mind, his memories, his life… - then suddenly stopped, and pulled back out, making Hux mewl in protest.  
“You are not you. Your world is another world. This… is not a dream, it is another… Universe!“

Hux blinked up at him, slowly getting up, and rubbing his head. Part of him was so sleepy and relaxed, and did not want to move, did not want this to end. Another part was waking up with a vengeance, nervously watching as Kylo raised himself up.

He got out of his bed, pulling the drip stand attached to his IV down, and when it fell against the bed, he just reached across to his arm and pulled the needle out. Hux lifted his hand to warn him, but it was already too late. Blood sprayed out in all directions… Hux grabbed some tissues from a nearby dispenser, turned to press them down on Kylo’s arm, but found him holding his hand over the wound and emitting a blue light… that healed it up.

“You can do that?”  
“I can now… I think connecting to you helped me.”

Hux watched as Kylo moved his hand to his shoulder, than his side, which was taking a lot longer. It was fascinating, but Kylo was distracted. He began pacing around the room, still holding his hand to heal himself, which looked almost comical.

“If this is no simulation, but an alternate universe, then I have to get back to mine. I… the texts only rarely spoke of this. But this could be a problem… It explains why you are here…. But it means I am, too… if I’m not dead here…”

Hux rubbed his eyes. He could actually follow what Kylo was saying here, but it was still a bit much to digest that this was all happening for real.

“There is no reason that meeting your self from this universe should result in catastrophe.”, he began, “But going back to your own universe might be tricky. You have no idea how you got here?”  
“None. I was lying in the snow on Starkiller, and-“  
“Starkiller?”

Kylo stopped and looked at Hux, then looked down on himself, barefoot and naked underneath his green hospital gown.

“Where are my clothes?”  
“Oh, uhm… I think, you were cut out of them. They were soaked in blood and snow.”

Kylo made a beeline for the sleeping nurse, woke him up and pulled him to his feet.

“Bring me my clothes, and my boots.”, he said firmly, and the nurse nodded and left the room.

Hux stood half disapproving of Kylo’s mind manipulation and hoping the nurse would call security, half in amazement, just for the hell of it, wishing he really did come back with the items. The hell side won. The man came back with what was left of Kylo’s robes, and his boots, and then Hux watched Kylo made him fall asleep again.

But this time, it seemed like he cared that Hux was disapprovingly watching, and he actually caught the man and lowered him down softly. Hux rolled his eyes with a huff when he saw Kylo’s grin, and grumbled out a “Good Boy…” that sounded way too genuine. Kylo’s grin deepened, before fading and leaving behind a curious, wry smile.

“I wish, Hux. I really do…”

Kylo put on his robes and boots, lifted his hood, and Hux watched, with the hairs at the back of his neck raised. What did that last bit mean? Kylo had seen the insides of his mind, said he wasn’t the Hux he was looking for. Who or what did this man believe himself to be?

“My lightsaber. Where is it?”  
“Your what?”  
“My saber. I had it in the forest.”  
“… - Oh, the red light stick?!, Hux said and searched his pockets. “I picked it up, but… I must have lost it…”

Hux was still looking around his pockets, when he felt something wrap around his neck, almost like a hand, but that made no… sense? Kylo stood a few feet away from him, and when he looked up, his hand was stretched out and there was rage in his eyes.

“Lost… it?”, Kylo seethed

No, this would not do at all. Hux surged forward and slapped Kylo hard across his face.

“STOP THIS AT ONCE!”, he roared out, with a ferocity he didn’t know he had in him.

And breath that he hadn’t had in him a moment ago, too. Kylo had indeed stopped, the second that Hux struck him. Now he stood, his hand holding his cheek, his eyes filled with all matter of emotions – most of them seemingly not dangerous to Hux’s immediate health.

“Is this how you treat people in your world? You might have powers, but you’re acting like a spoiled child!”, Hux’s voice was lower now, but his words still angry.

Kylo’s eyes remained big.

“If you want your damn stick, we’ll go and try and find it. But if you ever lay a hand on me, or anyone else again – I’ll leave you here to fend for yourself, and you’ll never make it back to your world. I’m a physicist, I know universes don’t just pop open like magic portals on the telly.”  
“On the what?”, Kylo asked quietly, still holding his cheek, with big, sorry eyes.  
“Telly! You don’t have TV in your world?!”, Hux flustered, and grabbed his wrist, literally leading him out like the big kid he was being.  
He even stuck the chocolate bar into Kylo's other hand to keep him quiet, as he tried to manoeuvre them out of the hospital as low-key as possible.

They found the saber in a bin, close to the drop-off space. Kylo slid it back into its holster, then let Hux pull him into the car he had ordered to take them back to his house. He got into the back, beside Hux, and looked out of the window, as they started moving.

“Do you live close to the park?”, Kylo asked quietly, without looking away from the window.

Hux only growled in response, but then felt Kylo take his hand, and start to gently run his thumb up and down the side of it.  
Manipulative little shit, Hux thought. But he leaned over and asked the driver to drop them at the Campus park instead.

Hux let Kylo look around the place he had found him, for a good 20 minutes at least. But there was no portal, no magical site, that Kylo could access. Eventually, Hux stretched out his hand.

“Come on. I’ll get us some pizza on the way home, and you can tell me all about your world, hm? Do you know what pizza is? Alright, your in for a treat…”

The clock on the wall said 1 am. Hux rubbed his eyes. He was lying in his bed, Millicent curled up beside him, outside on the main street cars were going by intermittently. The snow had started again just after they’d gotten in, and apparently it had not abated yet.

There it was again. That noise. A kind of howling noise, like an injured animal. It was hard to make out, as it was bathed in the sound of endless zapping between programmes, a chaotic sea of noise that Hux now realised he had fallen asleep to.

Kylo, in the other room, browsing through TV channels and streaming sites.

It wasn’t difficult to explain the concept of the internet to him, or any technology really. What Kylo didn’t seem to understand was the energy used to power it. And the “lack of diversity”. At first, Hux had thought Kylo was woke, but then he realised he meant other species, other planets, and Force sensitives of various kinds… The quiet howling continued, and as Hux peered around the corner, he found Kylo sitting up in bed, tears streaming down his face.

“Everyone is human.”  
“I know, Kylo…”  
“And no one uses the Force. No one speaks of it. You would think that one of this blasted channels would have something on it, anywhere on the internet, anything. I can use it. I can use it, it exist here, and no one else uses it, and nothing makes sense here, and I’m stuck-“ – at this, he flung Hux’s laptop towards the wall, but stopped it mid-air, and let it safely moved back onto the bed. Hux’s heart missed a beat, and he was about to shout at him, but the look in Kylo’s eyes made him exhale a soft sigh.

“Budge up.”  
“What?”  
“Move. Make space for me.”

Hux climbed into bed beside Kylo, found the remote to switch off the TV, and powered down his laptop, placing it on the night-stand.

“Tell me about your Hux. Tell me about me in your world.”

Kylo have Hux a look of uncertainty, then swallowed and nodded.

“I’ll show you.”

Hux wasn’t sure what he meant, but Kylo nodded reassuringly and moved him so that his head rested on his chest, then wrapped his arm around him protectively.

“You deserve to know.”, he stated, almost as if telling himself, more than Hux, before gently pushing images into Hux’s mind.

Sure enough, there was a man who looked and sounded exactly like Hux, but there was little else that connected them, at least at first. Hux watched the other Hux walk around a military ship, commanding officers, addressing troops, overseeing training programs. This Hux wore his hair slicked back, and his coat stuffed with shoulder pads. And he seemed really uptight.

But then, Kylo showed him Snoke – or rather, his holographic representation, and how he barked orders at them both, how abusive he was, manipulative. He showed him rivalries between Kylo and Hux, arguments, and… - Hux turned his head, opened his eyes, but the images didn’t stop.

“I don’t want to watch this anymore.”, he said, but Kylo held him gently.  
“It’s not all. This is better…”

And he was right. It was of course uncanny in how familiar it was, but that also made it somewhat comforting. Inside Hux’s chambers, where Kylo apparently had been a few times, the design was very different to Hux's house on Earth, but he could understand it. It looked pleasing... And as Kylo's memory zoomed out of the discussions between himself and General Hux, it moved into the corner, where an orange cat sat and played, looking exactly like- “Millicent! Not that…”, the Hux in the memory called out, as the feline began to shred some paper reports.

“She’s called Millicent, too?!”, Hux gasped.

Kylo nodded.

“She is. As far as I know, your first name should be Armitage. Your mother is called Meena, and your father Brendol. But this Meena went missing, presumed dead when he was a child, and this Brendol was a successful officer, but an abusive father.”

Hux gasped again.

“Yes, that is my first name, and those are the names of my parents. But they were good people.”

He turned around and looked at Kylo, whose eyes were big and round again.

“They were good people, Kylo. And I have a brother. You didn’t show me that your Hux has a brother.”

Kylo’s lips opened, but no sound came out.

“What about your parents? Do you want to show me your parents?”

There was incredible sadness in his eyes, but Kylo pulled Hux back against him, and held him tightly as he showed him everything. Hux gasped when he saw Kylo as Ben, going off to school with an uncle who hated him, how he got recruited by Snoke, and how he was manipulated to kill his father. But after that, Kylo’s mind seemed to just keep showing tragic death after tragic death, war, battles, and destruction. Hux’s assassination of his father, too.

“How can you want to go back there?”, Hux gasped, reeling from all the misery.  
“It’s my home.”, Kylo said softly. “And it can be beautiful, too…”

At that, he pulled back the tragic images, and showed Hux instead the beauty of Naboo, and other places around the galaxy that he’d seen. The buildings, the cultures and languages, the many different peoples. In Kylo’s universe, so many planets were inhabited… so much life. Animals and plants, that Hux could not wrap his head around, planets with three suns, five moons… it was a wonderland, a strange, brutal, and beautiful wonderland.

“I don’t know, if I can get you back there…”, Hux eventually said. "Everything we know about the multiverse is purely hypothetical. Or was, until you arrived. And I'm not sure you should be passed around like a circus animal, and... your powers. They could make you a target. A subject of intense study. I think you should try to keep a low profile, and if this... Force... can tell you anything, follow that... I'm sorry..."

Kylo nodded.

“I know.”  
“You can stay with me. Here. I-… we’ll figure something out.”  
“I know.”, Kylo said.

Hux chuckled at how arrogant that sounded, but Kylo’s eyes were innocent and without humour.

“I meant that I know that you’re a good person, Hux. I knew when I first met you here. I mean, I though you were him, and I wondered what had happened, that he’d be so open about who I always knew he was inside. He’s saved my life a few times, despite me treating him badly. But you have never needed to build up the walls that he did, and you were open from the start. And… I’m going to make it up to you. I can’t make it up to him, not now, but I can to you.”  
“There’s nothing to make up, Kylo.”  
“Let me do this. Please.”

Hux soon fell asleep, and when he woke up, he was still inside Kylo’s arms. And that didn’t change from then on. While they moved quite slowly, they slept beside each other every night, either embracing or spooning. It was quite impossible not to. Kylo was restless without Hux, and Hux began to be restless without Kylo.

There was no trouble getting paperwork done to establish Kylo in the real world – not when he had the power of persuasion. They could add birth records, enrol him at university, open a bank account and get him a phone. What required effort and some real work was for Kylo to learn to control his temper, especially when Hux wasn’t around. He often had to use the Force to make people forget about incidents, and he often lost his patience. But he had promised Hux, and he wanted to keep that promise. He would never ever hurt him, not even by embarrassing or making problems for him because of Kylo's tempers. He was dedicated... but it was hard.  
In the end, Hux opted for a leather wristband that Kylo wore, to remind himself that Hux was around, and that he was safe.  
That helped. It helped a lot.

As did a routine. In the mornings, they had breakfast together, then Hux went to work, and Kylo went to class, or the library, or the gym. He picked up Hux at work, and they’d go for a jog, before going home and having dinner together. The routine came quickly, and felt natural. Calming for Kylo, warming for Hux. Millicent adored Kylo, and that helped, too.

As the evenings got milder, and the skies clearer, Kylo would take Hux outside at night to look at the stars with him. Hux would point out what stars were which, and where they could perhaps see Venus. He would describe what climates the planets in this solar system had, or perhaps some moons of other planets, and Kylo would describe life on planets in his universe that matched those descriptions.

And sometimes, he would make things fly and dance in the air, like flower petals or leaves.

It was a Saturday in the beginning of August. A lovely, sunny day, and the two had gone to a café by the riverside, enjoying drinks and ice cream, when Hux dropped his spoon, then lowered his sun glasses. Kylo grinned, as he stopped the spoon in free fall, and placed it back on the table, but when he turned to see where Hux was staring, he froze.  
Threading through the tables, trying to keep a low profile, was the spitting image of Kylo himself… well, not in the same clothes. The ravenhaired would never have worn anything this… cute?

“Ben!! BEN!!!”, a group of female voices screamed, and the mad began to move faster, knocking over a table in the process.

“You can’t, you know, freeze time and help a guy?”, Hux quipped, but the next moment that exact thing happened.

Kylo quickly unfroze Hux, who grinned excitedly, but Kylo shook his head.

“Wasn’t me, Hux. That wasn’t me.”

“Shit, shit, shit, why aren’t you affected…. You! You two there, down with you, now!”, Ben snapped his fingers.

But Kylo blocked his effect on Hux, and the two just stared at him in amusement, Kylo tilting his head.  
Ben looked at Kylo properly, and his eyes widened.

“You.. look like me. Why do you look like me. What’s going on. Is this one of those prank TV shows? What’s going on?”

Kylo reached out his hand to try and calm the man down, but as it got close to Ben’s hand, something flashed, and he pulled back.

“What was that?”, Ben asked nervously.  
“I don’t know…”, Kylo admitted.  
“A portal…”, Hux mumbled to himself.  
“A portal? Out of here? Far, far away? I’ll take it…”  
“Easy…”, Hux looked up at Ben. “Isn’t there some other way to fix… this?”  
“You don’t know what it’s like. They chase me day and night. I’m terrified that I’ll hurt one of them one day, just trying to get away. One time, I pushed one into a pool and she almost drowned. Couldn’t swim. How was I to know…”  
“You pushed her?”, Kylo asked. “Or… *pushed* her…”, and mimed using the Force.  
“… *pushed*.”, Ben confirmed. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I’m telekinetic. And other stuff. It’s not a problem normally, because I learned to just stop time, but you two… I’m losing my touch… Are you angels? Am I dead?”

Hux looked at Kylo.

“How would your Hux deal with this guy?”, he asked, half serious.  
“You mean…”  
“I mean, what if there can only be one. If the universe pushes one of you out, or I don’t know, lets you choose..… I don’t know how it’s going to work, if you get to chose, but, what if… would you… be willing… to stay?”  
“The Hux over there would make this guy his slave in two seconds flat.”, Kylo stated dryly.  
“Slave? And this Hux, he looks like you? I’m into it…”, Ben commented. “Just please. Help me. These girls are raptors. I mean… I mean you’d be getting them.”  
“You’d be getting war. Potentially. You’d be part of a large military organisation-.”  
“I don’t care. I’d be slave. What would I care about that. Get me out of here…”  
“And your friends?”, Hux added. “Family?”  
“Oh, hell yeah, welcome to my life, buddy…”, Ben practically threw his phone and keys at Kylo. “You are so welcome to this, man…”

Hux took a deep breath.

“Alright, how about… you show each other your lives… to be really sure. This isn’t something you should rush-“

But the two men had already stood up and linked minds. There was an energy sizzling between them that grew and grew by the minute, and Hux had to narrow his eyes, as it began to shine more brightly. It started to make more and more noise, too, until it sounded like a wild storm at sea.

“LET’S DO THIS!”, Ben called out across the light to Kylo.  
"Alright. And remember: FIND HIS BROTHER!", Kylo called out to Ben, and he nodded.  
“I’m not sure we should rush this.", Hux tried one last time. "Maybe we should be sure, before-“

But Ben stepped forward into the light, and disappeared.

And then the light disappeared.

And the world around them unfroze.

Hux swallowed.

“How do we know… he didn’t just die…”, he said deflated.  
“*I* know…”, Kylo said softly, and life around them continued, to the sound of some very confused girls.  
“I have had something from that life pulling at me, all this time. It’s gone now. He’s there. I don’t know quite how, but he’s there.”  
“Well, let’s hope he didn’t go exactly where you left, or he’ll be arriving on the charred remains of Starkiller…”, Hux noted dryly, as a few girls slowly walked up to them, trying to approach Kylo.  
“Ben?”, one asked hopefully.  
“Yeah?”, Kylo replied. “Except I’ve changed my name. It’s Kylo Ren now. Anyone who still calls me Ben is *dead* to me.”

The girls gasped.

“Ten minutes of autographs, form an orderly line, any of you start anything and I call the whole thing off for all of you. Understood?”

That it was.

In a universe, far, far away, a young, raven-haired man appeared in the Throne Room of the Supremacy.

“You! Yes, you are here! It worked!”, he called out and punched the air triumphantly.

Supreme Leader Hux frowned, and tilted his head.

“Ren, have you gone quite insane?”, he asked.  
“I love how this place looks! I love these uniforms! And you’re gorgeous…”, Ben beamed.

Hux waved the Knights of Ren towards him, to examine this strange man, but when they came back and explained to him what had happened, and that this Ren was quite happy living his life as Hux’s consort and occasional body guard… Hux quietly thanked his Kylo Ren, even though he would never hear it…

In a universe, just like this one, a young, raven-haired man was sitting on a deck chair, wrapping his arms and a blanket around his beautiful partner, watching the night sky and pointing out the stars of this, and that other universe. The one where Ben was now happy. And the Hux, there, too…

Kylo looked down and held Hux closer, let his warm, large hands caress Hux’s bare shoulders. The gingerhaired purred and snuggled in between Kylo’s neck and shoulder, basking in the warmth between them.
    
    
      
    

“I love you…”, Hux whispered.

Kylo’s heart missed a beat. Hux felt it.

“What? I’ve said it lots of times before.”, he said.  
“No, you haven’t… I say it, and you smile, or kiss me, or say “I know…””  
“I do not!”, Hux protested, but Kylo gently pushed a number of memories into Hux’s mind, and the gingerhaired chuckled with embarrassment.  
“You must think I’m a right bastard…”  
“No…”, Kylo kissed Hux’s head. “I just thought you’re taking your time…”  
“Well, then…”, Hux turned around to face Kylo for a moment, and the raven-haired looked down with big, round eyes.  
“Do you already know what I’m going to say?”, Hux teased.  
“No, but I can feel…”, Kylo started, his heart beginning to pound. “Hux… I-“  
“Well, let me say it first!”, Hux playfully complained, and placed a finger on Kylo’s full, luscious lips.  
“Kylo Ren. Will you marry me?”

Kylo kissed Hux’s finger, before answering.

“Yes, Armitage Hux, a thousand times yes….”  
“Alright then…”, Hux nodded, and settled back against Kylo’s chest, drawing the blanket up over himself – but not so far, that Kylo couldn’t find his bare shoulders again…

“Soon…?”, Kylo asked after a while, his eyes on the dark summer sky. He wasn’t sure he’d ever felt this happy, this calm, this whole…  
“Soon.”, Armitage said, looking out at the same sky, feeling the same way, and snuggling closer to his fiancé.  
“I’m sure our parents will be thrilled…”

That they were.


End file.
